(Redirected from Self-importance)
Part of the Casswiki article series Fourth Way and Shamanism and archaic esotericism
There exists a great confusion about what one should or should not feel about oneself. The confusion of the matter has to do with the lack of clarity concerning what the self actually is. As long as there exist all manner of fantastic conjectures that represent the self as being completely other than it in reality is, these questions cannot receive any satisfactory answer.
Carlos Castaneda writes that self-importance is a needless piece of baggage that the warrior needs to get rid of simply because maintaining it is a needless expenditure of energy. There is no ethical value judgement on self-importance per se, it simply is superfluous and inefficient and works against the values of correct use of energy the warrior should aspire to. Energy will allow seeing and seeing can bring one to knowledge and freedom. Self-importance is a hindrance on the way.
The self-importance as meant in the above paragraph is similar to George Gurdjieff’s notion of self-love and vanity. It is, in fact, identification with external circumstance, status, internal considering, worry over how other see the self. This self-importance or self-love has nothing to do with any real I but everything to do with obtaining support or corroboration or validation for various little ‘I’s.
Popular psychology speaks much about self-esteem, giving oneself credit and so forth. It is difficult to say anything about this because these statements are made as if the self were a single, known thing, which it is not. Esoteric discourse sometimes speaks of getting rid of ego. This suffers from the same vagueness.
The resolution of these issues begins with self-knowledge and discernment between the various impulses which make up the various little ‘I’s. We cannot say that all appreciation of self were bad: In the Fourth Way discourse, a person who has an equal lack of appreciation for all things, one for whom all things are interchangeable, is called a tramp. A lunatic is one who appreciates things of no objective value and does not appreciate things of true value. Both conditions are harmful for the Work and exist to varying degrees within most people.
The crux of the matter is separating between diverse tendencies in self. Unqualified love or hate, appreciation or contempt of something simply because it originates with some part of self is absurd. Indifference is no better. Discernment between the mixed impulses which originate within the mixed self is key to having any reasonable attitude towards the question. The standard of how these impulses relate to esoteric work is one possible benchmark for ranking these impulses. Work towards truth cannot be based on lies to self, whether these were to glorify or vilify the latter. Both extremes represent a different flavor of self-importance and vanity. Yet, the self cannot be unimportant either. Some part must be recognized as higher and worthy of support for the Work to be anyhow motivated. Nothing can grow out of nothing, some rudimentary form must exist for anything to take root, says Gurdjieff.
Some teachings promulgate the dissolution of ego. This is in direct contradiction to the Fourth Way. According to the Fourth Way, the personality must on the contrary be brought to its highest possible development before it is ready for development past the human form. This development cannot however be based on illusory views on this personality nor can it be based on neglect of this same personality. The only kind of love of self that may hold esoteric benefit is telling the truth to the self. The subjective vanitous love of self is fundamentally opposed to this since it thrives on making the world support its preconceptions instead of seeking the truth concerning itself.